The steel tree on the hill overlooking the town with the Big Winch was created by Bob Amorosi to give his kids the experience of a tree in a town that, at that time, had no trees.
The twisted metal used to construct the tree, resulting from a freight truck fire around 200km south of Coober Pedy.
On-board with the steel pipes were quite a number of full LPG cylinders bound for Coober Pedy.
A fire on the truck, eventually ignited the gas and the extreme heat twisted the pipes making them unsuitable for sale.
Bob had Joe Diosisio, a boilermaker working for him at the time, cut and weld the bits together to his design. The tree originally stood in the Amorosi yard (Coober Pedy Trading Company), on Seventeen Mile Rd. It had roots to hold it firm and a wheel hub welded on top.
That hub was a challenge. The kids used to try to reach and sit on it but, as far as Bob’s son Eugene recalls, no one ever did. The attempt alone was dangerous.